&lt;oops... replied off list, reposting&gt;<br><br><a href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/
</a><br><br>has the PXE server source that most distros use and<br><br><a href="http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php</a><br><br>talks about how to setup PXE, tftpd, and dhcpd (ISC).<br><br>-Adam<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 5/22/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Doug Mildram</b> &lt;<a href="mailto:doug.mildram@mindspeed.com">
doug.mildram@mindspeed.com</a>&gt; wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">doug&gt; I too use PXE at work, with some success.
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I could stand to learn more, and I sure as hell am still<br>&nbsp;&nbsp; looking for the &quot;pxe daemon source code&quot;...buried by intel?who?<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; while still running a redhat binary pxe daemon here.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If every box had a bootable CD, it&#39;d be easier to
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp; just do that ...whether the CD is the stock CD, or one that<br>&nbsp;&nbsp; you customize a bit, which I&#39;ve done; which is separate from<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;customizing the kickstart config file...<br>but realize as an opening comment, I may recommend that you
<br>ignore PXE until you need it; ignore the boot-from-NIC potential.<br><br>You&#39;re VERY welcome to torture me with questions, or visit Westboro<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;(work/days..it&#39;s quiet enough here) for some hands on confusion.
<br><br>It may be easier to LEARN PXE after learning &quot;kickstart&quot; without PXE.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; e.g. booting from CD with<br>&quot;linux ks=nfs:nfsserverip:/path/to/yourconfigfile.cfg&quot;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and the .cfg file has MORE info like
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;....some intro omitted.....<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;network ... (static,dhcp...it can install static<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;while USING a temp-dhcp installaddr)<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;part .... (disk layout)<br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;authconfig&nbsp;&nbsp;... ( --enablenis&nbsp;&nbsp;is my option)<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;nfs --server servername-or-ip --dir /path/releasedir<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;skipx&nbsp;&nbsp;(no X, dumb terminal consoles best for servers, right?)<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;%packages...
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;......<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;% post<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;exec &gt; /KICKSTART.log 2&gt;&amp;1<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;echo &quot;hello...&quot;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mkdir /customdir<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;mount nfsserver:/exporteddir /customdir
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;( grab things, even edit files in&nbsp;&nbsp;/ ....)<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;chkconfig --level&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;345&nbsp;&nbsp;ntpd&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; on<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;chkconfig --level&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;345&nbsp;&nbsp;nfs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;on<br> ..............and so on.&nbsp;&nbsp;Tends to be a few hundred lines long.
<br><br>PXE does all this, but without the CD...and with more flaky results<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; depending on NIC cards, mostly, i think...I find it<br>just complicated enough to confuse me,<br>and just odd enough to NOT work in some cases.
<br><br>Challenges:&nbsp;&nbsp;1) can&#39;t find the source to the pxe daemon,<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;which seems to have fallen OFF of the distros.<br>I feel &quot;stuck&quot; running a redhat9 binary (which works usually-for-me<br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;on a redhat3-or-4 based system, just copying /usr/sbin/pxe<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;and firing it up manually&nbsp;&nbsp;(it often crashes after getting its job done)<br><br>2) complex dependencies.&nbsp;&nbsp;It needs<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2a)&nbsp;&nbsp;DHCP server, can be your existing one
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2b)&nbsp;&nbsp;TFTP server (this part is NOT complex, after you<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;learn some of the bootfile/dir layout)<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; as well as the (nfs,ftp,youdecide) server to grab packages from.<br><br>What&#39;s confusing is how the PXE daemon and DHCP daemon play together.
<br>When my boot fails, the error whines about DHCP even when PXE is the problem.<br><br></blockquote></div><br>